Vijay Kedia’s TED Talk: How investing miracles happen!

At present, Vijay Kedia is the largest individual shareholder in about 15 listed companies.

“Actually, the tree does not grow 80 feet in six weeks. Over the years, it creates a strong base under the ground before getting to that length, so that it can sustain the load for many decades after the fifth year,” he said.

Success in investing, like in many other fields, is like the Chinese bamboo tree, which takes a lot of time, effort and faith before showing the green shoots, says value investor Vijay Kedia.

Delivering a TEDx talk at IIM-Amritsar, Kedia said the Chinese Bamboo Tree is like any other plant, which requires soil, water and sunshine to grow. But the tree shows no visible sign of growth above the ground for at least four years, forcing one to think whether the efforts will ever be rewarded. After the fourth year, a miracle happens suddenly in the fifth year, and the plant grows into an 80 feet tall tree in just six weeks. From, zero to 80 feet tall in just six weeks.

“Actually, the tree does not grow 80 feet in six weeks. Over the years, it creates a strong base under the ground before getting to that length, so that it can sustain the load for many decades after the fifth year,” he said.

The same happens in life. Success which often looks like sudden is actually the result of your hard work, patience, discipline, learning and focus of many years, the veteran investor said.

Kedia is a known rags-to-riches story on Dalal Street. He came to financial capital Mumbai from the City of Joy, Kolkata, in 1989. “I thought it is better to die in the ocean rather than Hooghly,” he said.

“I was very much focused on investing when I came to Mumbai. I used to read all the newspapers and business magazines available. I did not ever see any TV serial in my life as my only focus was investing. Unfortunately, I didn’t go for higher studies and nor did I read any investing books,” he recalled.

Kedia said he found many multibaggers in the initial years, but the base was very small. “However, between 2003 and 2006, I identified three such shares which appreciated 100 times in the next 13 years.

“Whatever money I had made in my journey till then, I poured them in these stocks to make it big. This luckily turned out as the first crop of that bamboo tree for me,” he said.

At present, Kedia is the largest individual shareholder in about 15 listed companies.

He has a knack for spotting unpopular and, at times, unheard of stocks. He says short-term investment is a big no-no for him. Instead, he prefers to play it for the long term.

Kedia says he believes in the FEM (focus, energy and memory) philosophy of life.

“If you focus on something, it would start communicating with you. Confidence and optimism and will to take risks are your energy. Memory is your blessing, because without memory you can’t even remember all those lessons learnt from thousands of books you read during the journey,” he said.

In the past few years, Kedia has also delivered speeches at London Business School, IIM-Ahmedabad and IIM-Bangalore.